MANILA, Philippines — Intramuros Administration (IA) Administrator Joan Padilla on Tuesday confirmed before the Senate committee on finance that there are still some 2,000 informal settler families in the historic walled city of Intramuros in Manila.
Padilla, during the committee’s hearing on the proposed 2024 budget of the Department of Tourism, however, said that the IA has an ongoing program for relocation, the SIMPLE program.
“It will benefit around 470 informal settler families that will be relocated to Morong, Rizal, hopefully within the year,” said Padilla.
“There are about 89 who have already signed lease purchase agreements for them to be relocated to that site in Morong,” she added.
The spaces that will be vacated by the informal settlers will be used for “productive use” and “tourism purposes,” Padilla said.
She likewise bared plans to build boutique hotels and multi-purpose buildings within Intramuros to bolster the area’s tourism potential.